Diesel fuel and algae

[sticks]

I was talking with a trucker patient of mine today and we got off his eye problems and onto diesel fuel and RV's.He claimed that diesel fuel can " grow algae " if left for long periods of time in the fuel tanks. I've never heard of such a thing but didn't want to argue without knowing. He suggested adding anti-algae whatever to the fuel tank if left parked for several months at a time. Was he smoken something or is there anything to this?

[flyu2there]

I think this problem occurs more frequently in boats however, spose it could happen in a bus as well. Most marina's have guys that will polish fuel, in otherwords run it thru a series of filters and remove all of the junk that forms.

Follow this link and you will learn more than you ever wanted about this issue..............

http://www.fourwinds-ii.com/v2/?c=library&i=algaeCauseEffect

[Jon Wehrenberg]

He is correct. But having said that, I have parked the bus for extended periods, particularly during the summer when we prefer to stay home and have never had an issue. There are products that can prevent algae, and might be considered if the bus will stay parked for a long time, but in over twenty years of bus ownership it has never been an issue for me.

I have seen some dealers selling coaches have the buses in their inventory for one or two years, and I guess those buses don't use all the fuel in their tanks, so either they are not experiencing the problem, or they are treating their fuel. What does Liberty say? They are located where I suspect the problem might be the greatest.

[tpr]

In the early nineties I had a Sportscoach bus with a cummins engine and got algae in the fuel system. Not fun. When running down the road the engine would vibrate like it had a miss and shake the whole motorhome. The cummins people sent me back to Spartin Chassis in Michigan where they droped the fuel tank and replaced it and all the fuel lines then sent me back to cummins for new bosch injectors. They suggested an additive that would evaporate any water in the fuel. I had no fuel problems after that. I never have had a problems with my Detroit engines.